Hatters boss ready to see how far his side have come at Pilgrims

Mike Simmonds

Luton boss Nathan Jones is looking forward to seeing just how far his side have come when they go up against one of League Two’s top teams in Plymouth Argyle this afternoon.

Hatters travel to promotion-chasing Pilgrims, who have been in the top three of League Two for the last six months, leading the pack until Northampton’s stunning run of recent results saw them drop them back to third.

“Those are the kind of challenges we need to see where we are with moving forward.”

Nathan Jones

However, they are still well placed to go up automatically this year, as Jones said: “We’re testing ourselves against good sides and Plymouth are a good side. They’ve been in the top three near enough all season, they were top for a good spell and to do that you must be a good side.

“It takes a lot as it’s a gruelling season, you pick up injuries, so you have to sustain the level and that they have shows they’re a fantastic side.

“They’ve got a good manager (Derek Adams) in place there who is experienced and is getting the best out of them.

“I know first hand the work he does, he was very close to Colin Calderwood who I worked with at Brighton.

“I know it’s a really, really good club but we’re really looking forward to that challenge as those are the kind of challenges we need to see where we are with moving forward.

“It’s a big game, good stadium, they’ll have fans, we’re taking fans, that’s the type of game you want to be involved in.

Since taking over at Kenilworth Road, Hatters’ form on their travels has been excellent under Jones with four wins from five games, although the boss wasn’t looking to become away specialists.

He continued: “We’ve come up against real difficult away games in terms of Wimbledon, Wycombe, Mansfield, Leyton Orient and we’ve gone and got good results in good places.

“We want to continue that because it’s the next game, but we don’t think okay we’re good away from home, we don’t. We want to get consistent performances week in week out and we want to bounce back from Crawley.”

Hatters saw their four game winning run ended last weekend against Crawley Town who defended for their lives at Kenilworth Road.

When asked if he thought Plymouth’s approach in front of their own fans would lead to a more open game, Jones added: “We play a certain game home or away. Teams have tended to come out more at us away from home because the onus is on them to win games.

“But we can’t legislate for how teams play, all we have to do is concentrate on ourselves and make sure we’re ready and we’re as prepared as we possibly can be.

“Then on the day we have to perform in terms of our performance level from the weekend. Crawley weren’t the most open side, we have to know how to win games in an open game and a game that is tight.

“It’s unfortunate but away from home there may be a more open-ness to game which might suit.”

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